River Purwell

Hitchin Up Yard is a small stabling point located in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated next to the East Coast Main Line and is just north of Hitchin station.

Hitchin railway station serves the market town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire. It is located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north east of the town centre and 31 miles 74 chains (51.4 km) north of London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line.Until the current Stevenage station opened in 1973, many Intercity services stopped at Hitchin. In August 2007 Hitchin was awarded Secure Station status after improvements to station security were made by First Capital Connect, including new lighting, extra CCTV and the installation of automatic ticket gates.

Benslow Music Trust is a charitable trust established to promote music education. The trust is based in the Benslow area of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England, and primarily operates as an adult education college. Under its trading name of Benslow Music, Benslow Music Trust operates a wide range of courses for instrumentalists and singers at all competency levels and also offers courses in music appreciation. Most are two- or three-day residential courses, but there are also day courses and longer summer schools. Courses in classical, early, jazz and folk music take place all through the year both at weekends and in midweek. The trust also promotes its own International Concert Series, with concerts held at the trust headquarters throughout the year. The President until his death in March 2016 was Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The current President is Judith Weir. Vice-Presidents include Steven Isserlis, Melvyn Tan and John Rutter. The trust is the parent charity for the Benslow Music Instrument Loan Scheme which lends musical instruments to school and college students throughout the United Kingdom.

Benslow is a district of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. It is located very close to the railway station. Houses in the area range from those built in the late 19th century to a more modern housing estate at the top of Benslow Lane built in the 1990s. The original properties were built as a response to the arrival of the railway in Hitchin and the housing needs this created, and consist mainly of terraced housing, with some larger properties. Situated in the area is Pinehill private hospital, St Andrew's CofE primary school, and a nursing home Benslow House which was originally the first Higher Education College for women, founded by Emily Davies, which later moved to Girton College, Cambridge.Linking Benslow Lane with Chiltern Road is a large green open space, often referred to as Benslow or Pinehill field, which is detached playing field for Hitchin Girls' School. Also in the district of Benslow is the Benslow Music Trust, an independent charity which hosts residential and day courses for adult amateur musicians of all standards. It occupies the 1859 house originally known as 'Fairfield' and later as 'Little Benslow Hills', which was built by Quaker William Ransom and bequeathed to the Rural Music Schools Association by Esther Seebohm on her death in 1951. It was the first of the Rural Music Schools, and their Association was founded in Hitchin in 1929 by (Ellen) Mary Ibberson (1892–1979), who held the role of Director until 1947.

The Hitchin Flyover is a grade-separated single-track railway viaduct near Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, which carries the Down Cambridge Flyover line over the East Coast Main Line. Constructed between 2012 and 2013, it connects the westernmost track of the East Coast Main Line with the Cambridge line. The flyover was built to increase the throughput at Cambridge Junction, a congested flat junction, which put severe constraints on capacity on both lines.

Walsworth is a part of the town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. It was originally a village about a mile north east of the town, and later became incorporated into it, although it is still referred to as a village by some locals. Hitchin Walsworth is one of five wards for the purposes of electing councillors to North Hertfordshire District Council. The ward includes the Purwell neighbourhood, south of Walsworth, which is named after the River Purwell. Walsworth comes under the control of North Hertfordshire District Council with three elected Labour councillors, Kay Tart, Mike Hughson and Elizabeth Dennis.

Hitchin Girls' School (HGS) is a secondary school with academy status in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. The school has 1079 students and is in a consortium for sixth form teaching with Hitchin Boys' School and The Priory School. It gained academy status in 2011. Its Main Block is the highest building in Hitchin, and upon inspection in 2013 it was given the "outstanding" rating by Ofsted. There are 80 teachers and 1100 students currently on roll.

The Queen Mother Theatre is a modern purpose-built theatre located on Walsworth Road in Hitchin in Hertfordshire. Named for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, the theatre offers a varied programme of amateur productions. It is the home of the local performing group the Bancroft Players and the critically acclaimed Big Spirit Youth Theatre founded in 1984 and which included the actor Ben Whishaw among its members. In 1977 the Bancroft Players made plans for a purpose-built theatre in Hitchin and launched an appeal for £80,000 to begin work. At first the fundraising efforts were slow but by 1981 the group was able to make a start; however, the £8000 raised from the 1981-1982 season was insufficient to complete the build. In September 1982 the foundation stone was laid by Jimmy Hill, the President of the Appeal to raise the funds for the new theatre. At the same ceremony local resident Richard Whitmore told the assembled crowd that Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who had connections with the area, had been approached for permission to name the theatre after her. It was suggested to her that the new theatre be named the Queen Elizabeth Theatre but instead she suggested the alternative name The Queen Mother Theatre. Thus the theatre has the distinction of being the United Kingdom's only theatre to carry this name.The theatre finally opened in 1983 with a production of A Man for All Seasons. Since then the theatre has been extended to include a larger foyer and a new workshop and studio, now named the Richard Whitmore Studio. The actor Ben Whishaw was a member of the youth group Big Spirit Youth Theatre based at the theatre.

The River Oughton is a two mile long tributary of the River Hiz in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It rises at Oughtonhead and flows north-east between Oughtonhead Common and Oughtonhead Nature Reserve. It forms the boundary of Hitchin parish.The river has clear water from chalk springs in the Chiltern Hills, and it has a rich aquatic and insect life. Plants include spring water crowfoot, and there are mammals such as the water shrew, and birds include kingfishers and water rails.

Purwell Meadows is an 8.6-hectare (21-acre) nature reserve in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. It was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 1994. It is owned and managed by North Hertfordshire District Council.The River Purwell runs through the meadows: it has been modified to provide power to a watermill which is no longer in operation. Wildlife includes kingfishers and water voles. There is also a football pitch, a basketball court and a junior play area.There is access from Cambridge Road, Purwell Lane and Willian Road.

Hitchin Boys' School (HBS) is an 11–18 boys academy-status secondary school, with sixth form, located in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. Founded in 1632 by John Mattocke, the single-sex school currently educates around 1,500 boys. The sixth form is part of a consortium for wider teaching with other schools in the town, mixing some classes with pupils from Hitchin Girls' School and The Priory School.

Highbury Ward is an electoral ward in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It covers 230.174 hectares. It is a largely residential area bounded roughly to the north by the A505, to the south west by the A602, and by the railway line to the east. Schools in the ward include Highbury JMI and Whitehill Junior School. The Red House, a large red brick house that used to be the seat of the owner of the orchards that made up most of the surrounding area up until the Industrial Revolution, is also found on Whitehill Road. Wymondley Park FC is probably Hitchin's longest-established youth football club. It was started by parents of children at William Ransom school in 1981. It now caters for 200–250 players aged 8–18 years in around a dozen team, generally playing in the Royston Crow League. In 2009 a group of former Wymondley Park FC players formed an adult team playing in the Hitchin Sunday League, Wymondley Park Old Boys FC. They play at The Priory School in Hitchin.